Omicron cases double within 1.5-3 days, so we have to remain vigilant,' says Indian health ministry

With the new Covid-19 strain Omicron surging, the overall number of coronavirus cases is fast approaching 279 million, against the backdrop of nearly two years of collective trauma.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 278,866,214 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,392,020 on Saturday morning.

The US has recorded 51,962,787 cases so far and more than 816,362 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,234,623 cases as of Friday, while its Covid-19 death toll rose to 618,655.

India's Omicron tally crossed 350 on Friday, with the health ministry on Christmas Eve recording over 120 fresh cases of the new Covid-19 strain in 24 hours.

The Indian Health Ministry said that as many as 122 new Omicron cases were reported in the past 24 hours, indicating the caseload nearly tripled in just one day. Delhi and the western state of Maharashtra are the worst hit, according to ministry data.

Maharashtra and Delhi, the southern Indian states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also reported over 30 Omicron cases, as per the latest figures.

The World Health Organization on December 7 said Omicron has a significant growth advantage over Delta which means it has greater transmissibility.

"Omicron cases double within 1.5-3 days, so we have to remain vigilant with Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” India’s Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a media briefing in the national capital in the evening.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,772,626 on Friday, as 6,650 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

Besides, 374 deaths from the pandemic have been reported, taking the total death toll to 479,133.

Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 342 fresh Covid-19 cases with one more death in the 24 hours to Friday morning.

With the detection of the fresh cases after testing 16,913 samples, the daily case positivity rate rose to 2.02% during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The country on Thursday logged 2 Covid-linked deaths and 382 fresh cases, according to the DGHS. Though the deaths remained below five since December 13, the daily cases remained mostly over 250, according to data provided by the DGHS.

The country reported its first two Omicron cases on December 11.

The fresh numbers reported on Friday took the country’s total fatalities to 28,055 while the caseload mounted to 1,582,710.

 Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 % during the period.

 The recovery rate also remained the same at 97.74%.